In addition, two communities – College Station, Tex. and Louisville, Ky. – have requests for information pending.

“In ten years, whether a city has faster, cheaper, better broadband networks will affect everything it does,” the report notes. “Today many things a city does affect what kind of broadband networks it will have in 10 years.”

The report also recaps the status of ultra-high-speed network projects that are underway, most of which Telecompetitor has covered previously, including:

The experiences of communities pursuing gigabit networks have provided lessons for other communities with similar plans, the report notes. Lessons include:

Organizing community resources and stakeholders are essential for making projects economically viable

Start with a clear understanding of how your city’s rules and assets affect deployment costs

The right time to start thinking about how to improve network economics is today

Success depends on quick decision-making

There is no one-size fits all solution

Scale matters

Experiments don’t always work the first time

Local leadership is the single most important ingredient for success

“This is not the moment to pop the champagne cork,” the report concludes. “But enough progress has been made over the last two years that we can be optimistic that enough seeds will sprout and point the way for all communities that wish to have faster, better, cheaper broadband to take action to make it so.”